18-yr-old girl, brother murdered; property angle suspected

An 18-year-old girl and her younger brother were found murdered by unidentified assailants at their rented home in northeast Delhi’s Karawal Nagar on Thursday morning. Both of them were attacked with sharp weapons and there are multiple stab wounds on their bodies.

Police said the girl’s nude body was found lying on the floor in her room while her brother’s body was found on the bed. Her hands and legs were tied with a rope. Investigators suspect that the girl was allegedly raped before being murdered, even as they are waiting for her autopsy report for confirmation. They said the assailants tried to strangulate the victims by pillows as well.

The exact motive behind the double murder could not be ascertained till Thursday night. The police, however, suspect love or property angle behind the murder. A case has been registered at the Karawal Nagar police station. Several teams have been formed to probe the double murder case, said police.

The identities of the deceased have been withheld since the preliminary investigation has pointed to alleged sexual assault with the girl before murder.

A senior police officer said the crime was discovered around 6.30 am when the victims’ aunt went to their room and found them dead. The victims used to live on rent in the first floor owned by their aunt who lives at the ground floor with her family.

The victims’ father works with a private courier company in Karol Bagh and he was out for night duty when his two children were murdered. The mother and elder brother of the deceased were at their native village in Bihar’s Chhapra.

On Wednesday night, the brother-sister duo were sleeping in their room while one of their relatives were in an adjacent room in the same floor. In the morning, she realised that her room was bolted from the outside and she had to call her mother-in-law who lived downstairs to open the door.

“The victims’ aunt came upstairs and opened the door. She then opened the childrens’ room and found them dead.

The woman immediately raised an alarm and the police control room was informed about the double murder. A police team reached the spot and rushed the victims to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital where they were pronounced dead on arrival,” said the senior officer.

“Initial investigations revealed that the killers entered the room through an open door at the rear which usually is kept open to cool the room. As the cooler was switched on, nobody heard any noise,” added the officer.

The girl’s mobile phone was missing from the crime spot and the room was partially ransacked. Investigators are examining call details of the girl’s missing phone. They suspect the involvement of an insider who was well versed with all entry and exit points of the building.